Hope in Alabaster
by white raven
Summary: Following the forced exodus of RDA from Pandora, the small human colony remaining struggles to survive at Hell’s Gate. A sociolinguist finds herself drawn to an Omaticaya warrior whose child she once rescued. AU, OCs, appearances of canon characters.
1. The Nature of Mercy

**Hope in Alabaster**

Author's note: Because Avatar is fairly new to the screen, and we don't have a lot of canon from which to draw details, I have to extrapolate and assume based on what I've read from various Avatar sites and what I've interpreted from scenes and dialogue in the movie. Mea culpa for any discrepancies or disagreements. A list of references is available at the end of each chapter.

Disclaimer: As with all my fanfiction, this is written purely for entertainment value and as a hobby. No copyright infringement intended. No profit being made. Avatar and its characters are the property of James Cameron and all related entities as contractually noted. The OCs are mine (poor souls).

Chapter 1 – The Nature of Mercy

"Jesus, I don't think anything smells worse than a burned body." Max's voice, muffled even through the comm. system, carried a hint of revulsion.

Tess Langley hazarded a glance in his direction and wished she hadn't. The remains of a direhorse lay at his feet. What hadn't burned had been scavenged by viperwolves by the look of teeth marks on the slivers of bone showing through charred flesh. For the umpteenth time in the past hour she forced down the bile rising into her throat and breathed deep of the filtered oxygen circulating through her Exopak. If she managed to not throw up in her mask by the time they returned to the Samson, it would be a miracle.

Amongst the scorched and still smoking ruins of the Omaticaya's Hometree, bodies littered the ground—direhorses who had died as explosives hit the tree and mountain banshees, their massive wings resembling nothing more than curtains shredded by a maddened cat. The carcass of Hometree, blackened and blasted by enemy missiles, lay on its side, its once sheltering arms broken and leafless, covered in gray ash that still smoked a week after the battle.

Tess picked her way through the carnage, her sweating palms slippery on the shotgun one of the three remaining miners allowed to stay on Pandora had handed her before they boarded the Samson. He'd eyed her dubiously. She was a scientist, not a SecOps soldier, and her firearms skill had only been the minimum required of anyone participating in RDA's project on Pandora.

"Semi-automatic pump shotgun. It's loaded with 20 rounds of armor penetrating shells. It has a recoil absorbing stock so you won't feel like you blew your shoulder off when you fire. Just point and shoot. You'll be able to fend off a pack of viperwolves, but it will only piss off a thanator. You're too small to carry anything bigger. How does it feel?"

At the time, the shotgun felt solid in her grip, almost comforting, especially with the aid of a shoulder strap. Now, as she stumbled over the burnt carcasses of banshees and direhorses, her arms and shoulders ached with the weight.

Any sane person would say she and the recovery team had lost their minds coming here with only a Sampson, Delia Wright's avatar and one trained ex SecOps accompanying them while they hunted through the burn site. And they'd be right. Only the insane would be scrounging for Na'vi possessions like bows and baskets, arrows and bits of jewelry while God knew what crouched in the bushes watching them, waiting for the chance to catch fresh meat.

Norm's suggestion of showing goodwill by returning personal items to the Omaticaya had seemed sound at the time he presented it. The Na'vi had returned to recover their dead but left all else behind, too traumatized to linger. They would grieve the loss of their possession but wouldn't come back for them.

Tess liked the idea but had reservations. "What if they consider their stuff cursed?"

Norm shrugged. "We'll let them know we have it if they want it. If they don't, we'll store it for a little while in case they change their minds then toss it if they don't."

"That's a hell of a dangerous scavenger hunt," Julian Marks, a pulmonologist, uttered what their small group thought.

"Yeah, it is, but we should do something." Norm's affable features turned grim. "We've done a lot of damage to these people. Dangerous for us, sure, but a small gesture in comparison to them letting us stay here. Besides, there are thirty-seven of us left at Hell's Gate. I'd say diplomacy and a lot of ass-kissing is the order of the day, don't you?"

Tess had been one of the first to volunteer for the mission. Now she wondered if she harbored some kind of suppressed death wish and didn't realize it. She was a sociolinguist for chrissake, not an ex-marine. The shotgun she held was a nifty weapon in the hands of an experienced fighter. If her luck held, she wouldn't have to shoot anything. If it didn't, she'd aim at an attacking viperwolf and blow Max's head off instead.

"How are you doing over there, Langley?" Max's voice crackled in her comm.

"Peachy," she muttered as she put some distance between her and Max to sift through the blanket of ash for anything salvageable. She skirted around the body of a direhorse crushed beneath one of Hometree's shattered branches. "God, what a mess."

"Tell me about it."

Max continued talking, inane chatter that revealed his unease. Tess listened with half an ear, scanning the perimeter for even the twitch of a leaf or crack of a footfall on burnt wood. A crawling sensation started at her neck, spreading across her shoulders and down her back. They were being watched.

Something squirmed under her foot, and she yelped. Had she not paid attention to her firearms training and kept her finger off the trigger, she might have shot her off her toes.

"Tess! You okay?"

"What the fuck was that?!"

She ignored both Max's frantic question and Reese Griffin's obscenity and stared at the thing that had slid under her foot. A broken string of carved wooden beads. Each bead was the size of a blueberry and would look tiny and delicate encircling a Na'vi woman's long neck.

"Goddammit, Tess, answer!" Max nearly deafened her with his command.

"Stop shouting. I'm fine. I stepped on a Na'vi necklace." Saying that made her face heat with embarrassment. How stupid did that sound?

"Langley, if you're gonna be scared shitless by a piece of jewelry, get your dumb ass back to the Samson and wait for us. You're more danger to us and yourself with that shotgun than any pack of wolves."

Obviously, incredibly stupid if Griffin's scathing reply was anything to go by.

She hurried to reassure both men. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not. I'll fucking shoot you myself next time."

Still shamed by her nervous reaction and Griffin's reprimand, Tess kept silent and bent to retrieve the beads. They slipped off their leather lace and into the knapsack she carried. Beads, a few woven bowls, and most importantly, a child's doll, were all she'd managed to find so far. Either the destruction of Hometree had obliterated the mundane possessions of the Omaticaya, or she searched in an area that hadn't housed the living quarters.

The faintest scuffle reached her ears. Survival instinct slammed into overdrive, ignited by a rush of adrenaline that instantly sharpened her hearing and her sight. Tess hefted the shotgun to her shoulder, turning slowly to scan the border where jungle met scorched ground.

Again that thread of sound drifted to her, barely audible beneath the hammerblow of her own heartbeat in her ears. The noise came from a tangled patch of roots, yanked from the ground by Hometree's fall. The bit of root system sat near a piece of the trunk, almost entirely concealed by splintered branches and mounds of ash. Its twisted wood resembled a makeshift cage, and within, something shifted.

"Gentlemen," she said softly. "There's something alive here."

"Then I suggest you shoot it, Langley, before it eats you," Griffin snapped.

Tess crept a little closer, the shotgun raised and steady in her grip. The movements continued, accompanied by a weak, mewling cry.

The sound brought her up short. "No way," she breathed and threw caution to the wind by increasing her stride. If this was some kind of freaky-ass trap, then the fauna on Pandora was a hell of a lot smarter than anyone could possibly imagine. But the closer she got to the root cage, the more convinced she was this was nothing short of a miracle.

Shouldering two of the branches off the top of the cage, she peered inside and gasped.

".God."

Max's "Tess?" and Griffin's frustrated growl seemed far away in her comm. as Tess tipped over the root cage for a better look. Filthy and almost gray from both ash and illness, a Na'vi infant girl lay curled on her side, her small fists tucked under her chin as she mewled and stared at Tess with dull yellow eyes.

Tess stretched out a hand and crooned softly. "Hey, little bit, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to check you."

"Langley, who are you talking to?"

Tess answered Griffin without changing her tone. "You and Max best get over here now. I've found a Na'vi baby. Alive."

"What?" Max's exclamation was almost explosive. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope. But if we don't get her medical attention quick, she won't be for long. I'm not an expert on Na'vi physiology, but I'm guessing she's dehydrated and starved."

"Leave it."

This time, it was Tess who sucked in a shocked breath at Griffin's flat order. "Are you crazy? What asshole would leave a baby out here to be a thanator snack?"

"The Na'vi did, or it wouldn't be here."

"They probably couldn't find her. Hell, I only saw her because I'm lower to the ground."

"If you take that baby back to Hell's Gate and it dies, the Na'vi will blood-eagle every one of us."

Tess shouldered the shotgun across her back and reached for the baby. "Come on, Sunshine. That nutjob Quaritch wasn't exaggerating when he said the Na'vi were hard to kill." Lifting the infant wasn't as easy as it looked. Tess was bigger, but the baby was the size of a human 3-year old.

"Leave the goddamn kid, Langley!"

She struggled to her feet with the infant, ignoring Griffin's command. The child rested her head on Tess's shoulder and hiccupped.

Max's voice crackled as sharp as Griffin's over the comm. "Don't be a dick, Griffin. It won't make much sense if we give the Omaticaya a bag full of pots, pans and broken bows, then tell them 'oh by the way, we left one of your kids there.' I'd say they'd be pretty damned pissed off then, don't you?"

Tess paid little attention to the increasingly hostile exchange between the two men. She had no intention of obeying Griffin's order. She'd take full responsibility if anything happened to the Na'vi child while at Hell's Gate, but Griffin would have to shoot her before she left the baby here at the mercy of Pandora's feral jungle. How the child had lived through Hometree's destruction and a week beyond without being eaten by viperwolves was beyond her. With Jake's recent transformation, it was hard not to believe in the sentient power of this moon. Call it Pandora, Eywa, whatever, but something had saved this child. Tess wasn't going to spit in the face of that kind of purposeful fate and turn her back on a helpless infant. Griffin might be a heartless prick. She wasn't.

The eerie sensation tickling her nape increased, followed by another sound behind her—a low growl. So deep and resonant, it vibrated the ground beneath her feet. Suddenly, her stomach did battle with her fast-pumping heart for room in her ribcage. Tess squeezed the baby and turned slowly. Ninety meters away, a thanator watched her from the shadows of drifting ash.

For a moment, it seemed as if every molecule of air had been sucked from her protective mask, and all she could do was emit a faint half gasp, half scream.

The sound must have alerted Griffin for his abrupt "Max!" was followed by a softer "What are you looking at, Tess?"

"Thanator," she squeaked.

"Son of a bitch." His voice, sharp and contemptuous before, was creepily calm. "I'm contacting Jamie, Tess. There's a clearing to the north. He'll meet you there. Drop the baby and RUN!"

His voice blasted across her comm. like a gunshot, effectively snapping Tess out of the terror that had frozen her in place. She held the baby tighter and bolted for the questionable sanctuary of tree remains.

The thanator's resounding roar shook the surrounding jungle canopy as it thundered behind her, eating ground with a few lithe strides. Tess swore she felt its breath hot on her back. There was no way she could outrun something built like a panther and the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, even if she weren't slowed down by carrying a thirty pound baby.

"We're gonna die; we're gonna die; we're gonna die."

Griffin's and Max's responses were just bee buzzes in her comm. as she darted through the field of wood shrapnel. A giant limb lay to her right, blackened and hollowed out. Big enough for her to run into without so much as crouching, it was too small for the Thanator to follow.

She dove into the enclosed space just as a clawed foot slammed into the limb's broken edges, knocking it sideways. The force threw Tess against the interior wall, and she saw lights in the darkness as the back of her head hit the rough bark. She rolled, struggling to gain her feet while still clutching the now crying baby.

The limb lurched as the thanator tried to squeeze itself inside to reach its prey. Tess bounced from one side of the interior to the other, fighting to keep her balance as she raced for the daylight at the other end of the limb. The rapid rake of claws and the bellows of the enraged thanator as it shredded the wood made her ears ring.

She rocketed out of the tree limb's other end and raced north. She didn't bother looking back. To do so meant hesitation or worse, a fall. Voices rattled in her comm.. Griffin's, Max, Jamie's, even Delia's deeper avatar voice.

"It's stuck in the limb!"

"Run your ass off, Tess! Run!"

Tess heard the rotors before she saw the Samson and screamed in relief. Delia met her halfway, hefting an M60 that jittered in her blue arms as she opened fire into the jungle where the thanator still struggled inside the limb.

Tess nearly ran over Max and Griffin as they raced toward the Samson from the east. Her feet caught air as Griffin lifted her and tossed her, still holding the crying infant, into the carrier. Delia leapt aboard last, and just in time. The Samson lifted off as the thanator crashed into the clearing and roared its frustration at losing its prey.

For a moment, no one spoke in the Samson's open compartment. The draft generated by the rotors swirled into the space in a loud rush. Tess sat limp in her seat and patted the baby's back. Three gazes, two curious, one glaring, made her cheeks heat. She looked to Griffin who watched her with slitted eyes. Even behind the face mask, she could make out the fire of disapproval in his brown eyes.

To her amazement, the disapproval slowly transformed to amusement, and a wide grin curved Griffin's lips.

"Christ, Tess, if you weren't about to be eaten, I'd have pissed myself laughing. You should have seen yourself running out of that jungle as if someone had set fire to your ass, screaming your head off and hanging onto a big blue baby. Wished I'd filmed it."

She blinked. And blinked again as his grin turned to outright laughter. Max and Delia soon followed suit. Tess gaped at them all. They thought that was funny? Ass holes. She caressed the baby's soft black hair, careful not to catch the short neural queue covered by a wispy braid. She tried to picture what they saw, and suddenly a bubble of laughter rose in her throat. It had a hysterical edge to it, but she embraced it and let the residual terror flow out of her in that mirth.

"I hate you, Griffin." She grinned at him.

"Yeah, well I'm not your biggest fan either, Langley. And congratulations on instant motherhood."

She remembered a quote, one of her father's favorites. "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word; freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

She didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until Griffin answered her. "Winston Churchill."

Tess glanced down at the infant resting against her. A small heartbeat reassured her the baby merely slept. She needed medical attention, and Tess only hoped that by bringing a Na'vi child to Hell's Gate, she hadn't condemned the human contingent remaining on Pandora.

* * *

References:

James Cameron's Avatar Wiki

Babybag (height, weight page)

Na'vi language – Wikipedia (note: while I distrust a lot of information on Wikipedia, the reference section is exceptional and extensive for this entry. Because of its length, I'm listing the Wikipedia entry as the main reference. Paul Frommer, creator of the Na'vi language, has been complimentary of the maintainer of this entry).

Avatar – the movie

Avatar – the game

James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist's Survival Guide


	2. The Nature of Sympathy

**Hope in Alabaster**

Author's note: Because Avatar is fairly new to the screen, and we don't have a lot of canon from which to draw details, I have to extrapolate and assume based on what I've read from various Avatar sites and what I've interpreted from scenes and dialogue in the movie. Mea culpa for any discrepancies or disagreements. A list of references is available at the end of each chapter.

In this chapter I refer to a scene with Max and a slash cutter. While not addressed in the movie, such a scene appears in the original script as written by James Cameron.

There is a fair number of Na'vi words in this chapter. Each are translated at the end, below references.

Disclaimer: As with all my fanfiction, this is written purely for entertainment value and as a hobby. No copyright infringement intended. No profit being made. Avatar and its characters are the property of James Cameron and all related entities as contractually noted. The OCs are mine (poor souls).

Chapter 2 – The Nature of Sympathy

"Tess. Come on, Tess, wake up. You got company."

The persistent voice penetrated Tess's sleep-fogged mind. Oh God, she pleaded internally, please don't let it be time for yet another bottle.

"Tess, if you don't get up, I'll have to resort to extreme measures and wake Evie."

She jackknifed into a sitting position and squinted blearily at Norm where he stood by her cot. Behind the protective shield of his breathing mask, his eyes glittered with amusement. Tess shot a quick glance to the infant sleeping peacefully in the bed next to hers. She turned to glare at Norm.

"Norm, I just spent half the night getting her to sleep. If you wake her, I will personally strangle you with your own vocal cords." Hell, she sounded like someone had already attempted to strangle her. Nine hours of almost continuous singing to a cranky baby had left her croaking like a sick frog.

He raised his hands in mock surrender and grinned. "Don't be so quick to murder me. I've brought second watch. Jake and Neytiri are here."

A wave of relief shot through her. Images of a shower, twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep in a temperature controlled room, a meal eaten at leisurely pace instead of wolfed down as she stood. Breathing without wearing a mask. She looked to the baby once more, and those lovely images faded before the knot that started in her belly and rose to fill her chest.

This is supposed to happen, she told herself. Hell's Gate had been frantically trying to contact Jake for three weeks, to no avail. Half the remaining colony was jumpier than spooked cats at having a Na'vi baby here, and all were desperate to return her to her clan, even Tess. Or so she thought until now.

She peered around Norm to where two blue figures hovered at the doorway to the currently empty avatar longhouse. "Here, help me up." She raised a hand to Norm who gripped her forearm to steady her as she rose from the cot.

Joint pops and creaks made her groan, and one of Norm's eyebrows rose. "Aren't you a little young to sound that rickety?"

Tess offered him a scowl and the one fingered salute. "You try taking care of a Na'vi infant for twenty-one days and then tell me how spritely you feel, ace."

"Twenty days."

"Semantics, especially when you factor in diaper changing."

She met Jake halfway in the longhouse, Neytiri close behind him. Tess had worked briefly with Jake for the short time he was in the Avatar program. The man bound to his human form had been a troubled soul, like most of the RDA employees who volunteered to come to Pandora's hostile realm. Now, serenity and happiness shone from those yellow Na'vi eyes. The troubled soul had finally found its proper home.

Neytiri's tail coiled gently around Jake's calf for a moment, and Tess hid a smile. That soul had also found its proper mate.

Tess reached for his hand, and found hers engulfed in his gentle clasp. "_Kaltx__ì_, Jake. _Kaltx__ì_, Neytiri." She avoided using the more traditional "I see you," with its many levels of meaning and intimacy.

"How's it goin', Tess?" Jake grinned and kissed the back of her hand in a courtly gesture. "And it's okay to speak English to me, you know."

Tess sniffed. "You need all the practice in Na'vi you can get. Your accent still sucks." She winked at Neytiri. "_F__ì ketuwong ke nayume keu, Neytiri."_

Neytiri laughed and replied in a mixture of Na'vi and English. "The _tsahik _says he is still _skxawng _but learns more every day."

Jake's sheepish smile melted into a more somber expression. "Norm told us you found a baby at Hometree."

The unspoken anguish swelled in her chest even more. Tess had never meant to bond with the little Na'vi girl, but it happened nonetheless. How awful it now felt, faced with the inevitable separation. Tess kept her expression neutral and hoped her voice didn't give away the burgeoning grief threatening to close her sore throat completely.

"Surprised us all. She was dehydrated when we brought her here and hungry. A couple of scientists figured out a way to synthesize Na'vi breast milk." She shrugged. "Well, close enough anyway. She took it without too much problem, even from a bottle." Tess glanced down mournfully at her stained and wrinkled shirt. "We never quite conquered the spit-up."

She noted Neytiri's arrested expression, the flutter of her eyelids as she searched the compound for the baby's sleeping place. Time was up. The Na'vi had come to reclaim one of their own.

"Come on. She's over there, sleeping. Keep it down if you can. We've had a hell of a night."

Tess led them to where Evie slept curled on her side with her hands tucked under her chin and her small tail draped over a pudgy knee. Faint stripes patterned her skin, and her dark lashes lay thick against her cheeks as she slept. Her weeks under Tess's care at Hell's Gate had transformed her from a scrawny, dull-eyed creature who mewled weakly in distress to a chubby infant with a charming giggle when she was happy and a deafening howl when she was hungry or wet.

Blinking hard to stem tears, Tess watched Neytiri sink to one knee by the bedside. Long fingers plucked gently at the makeshift diaper covering the baby's bottom before hovering over her legs, torso and head.

"We didn't have a name, so I've just been calling her _'evi._" The Na'vi's affectionate word for "child" had been close enough in pronunciation to lend itself to bastardization, and the humans of Hell's Gate had informally christened the infant Evie.

Neytiri surprised Tess with tears and a wide smile. "This is Kinätanhì. Seven Stars. She is the daughter of the clan's best archer, Nawm'itan. He thought she died with her mother at _Kelutrel_. We all did." This time the long fingers drifted across Tess's hand. "_Irayo_, Tess, for saving her."

Tess stepped away, uncomfortable with the gratitude for what was nothing more than the actions of decency and a humanity almost forgotten on Pandora. "No thanks needed. It was Eywa's mercy that saved her and showed me where she was."

"Give yourself a little credit, Tess." Jake spoke for the first time since they'd seen the baby. "It takes balls to face down a Thanator."

Tess's hoarse laugh was more a bark. "Good God, who told you that? Please. I'm not that brave. Or that stupid. I left scorch marks in the grass running for the Samson." She winked. "Now, if you say I'm brave because I've changed nasty diapers, wiped up baby puke and forfeited a decent night's sleep for three weeks, well then, I'm your girl."

Her amusement faded as she turned her attention back to the sleeping Evie. She cleared her throat, hoping the hoarseness masked the annoying warble in her words. "You'll probably want to take her now. She's still full from her first breakfast and will probably sleep the entire trip back to the Omaticaya."

She didn't ask if the clan had found another _Kelutrel_ in which to make their new home. The Na'vi had allowed them to stay; it didn't mean they intended to reveal their new location. Trust between the two was still a fragile thing. Regardless, Evie was lost to her already.

A pile of supplies near the cot. Folded cloths for makeshift diapers, RDA-issue blankets and a hastily constructed _iveh k'nivi s'dir_ Tess kept on hand in preparation for this moment. She handed the baby sling to Neytiri. "It's not half bad if I say so myself. You'll need it to carry her home."

Neytiri rose to tower over Tess. A flicker of some emotion danced in her eyes and was gone. Her faint smile held a world of unspoken sympathy. "You carry her outside, Tess. She knows you. I will take her when we leave."

Tess nodded her thanks, unable to speak. Evie didn't waken as Tess lifted her, only shifted to rest her head on her foster mother's shoulder. Tess's arms strained under the baby's weight as she cradled Evie against her. She didn't mind, only wished she could strip off the damn breathing mask and kiss the little girl's head.

Outside the avatar compound, Polyphemus had cleared the horizon, lacquering the tops of the trees surrounding Hell's Gates perimeters in shades of amber and pale yellow. A heavy mist rose from the damp earth, curling back on itself to take shelter in the shadows of the deep jungle. Tess squinted against the morning light and followed Jake and Neytiri to the main gate. Beyond the gate, Jake's monstrous _ikran_ waited, emitting a loud screech when it caught sight of its rider.

At the gates, a few of the scientists and avatars waited. Each offered smiles and wishes of "Good luck, Evie," and "We'll miss you, Evie."

Tess felt sure her eyes were bugging out of her head from the effort to hold back a crying jag. In her arms, Evie slept peacefully. She couldn't bear to look at Jake when he touched her arm. "It's time, Tess."

The gentle tone of his edict broke the dam, and her eyes welled with tears. "Oh shit," she sniffled and took a stuttering breath in an effort to gain control. "I'm sorry. I can't help it." She hugged the baby, hard enough to make her grunt though her eyes stayed closed.

This time, Neytiri stroked her arm. "Kinätanhì will not forget you, Tess. I will tell her of you. So will Jake."

Tess nodded. She took several deep breaths and pulled off her mask, ignoring the surprised gasps of scientists and Na'vi. The minutes were brief, precious and oxygen-starved. Tess used them to press her bare cheek against Evie's, imprinting to her memory the feel of soft, cool skin and the caress of fine hair. _Sweet girl_, she thought, _be good. I'll miss you_.

She passed Evie gently to Neytiri and pulled the mask back in place. Filtered oxygen poured into her lungs from the Exopak, a stark reminder that here on this lush, dangerous planet she, and those like her, were outlanders in the most basic ways. Tears continued to drip down her cheeks, and her mask began to fog.

Jake kissed her hand once more. "I'll be back pretty soon and give you news." He shook hands with the others gathered and told Norm "Give me a few days, and I'll be back. We need to talk. Plan."

He and Neytiri then passed through the gate's temporarily deactivated security defense and mounted Jake's _ikran_. Neytiri held Evie securely in her sling and waved to Tess. Tess waved back, a little cheered by the knowledge that the Na'vi child was returning to her rightful place amongst the care and affection of her clan. She hoped her father would find some comfort in knowing not all his family had died at _Kelutrel_.

The _ikran_ rose on a draft of air created by the powerful wings. Soon, it and its riders were nothing more than a speck in Pandora's wide skies. Tess barely registered the quick pats on the shoulder or the complimentary "Nice work, Tess," as her colleagues passed her to return to the main center or work on fortifying the perimeter defenses while in their avatar bodies.

"Well, don't just stand there being a loser cry-baby, Langley. Vacation's over. There's plenty of work to do to keep this place up and running."

Tess chuckled. Reese Griffin's scathing remarks were just the thing she needed right now to cheer her up. She turned to find the ex SecOps scowling at her from behind his mask. His gaze dropped to her feet and rose slowly to encompass every detail of her frazzled appearance. "You look like shit, Langley." Despite the insult, a hint of concerned lingered in his brown eyes.

Graying, stocky and weathered by time spent under Earth's sun, Reese Griffin looked as toughened and appealing as old leather. His acerbic personality did nothing to enhance his appearance. In a way, he reminded Tess of her oldest brother—her favorite sibling.

"Ever the charmer, Griffin. What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I figured if I had to start my day by eating breakfast with a bunch of wussie scientists, I might as well eat with the wussiest one of all." The hint of a smile touched his lips.

Her brows rose. "Is this your way of asking me out on a date?"

He shrugged again. "Only if you get cleaned up. Good thing I'm wearing this Exo. I bet you smell like you've been sleeping in a disposal container. Oh, and you pick up the tab."

"Nice."

This time he grinned. "Ain't it though? Just think of it as a celebratory meal. We don't have to listen to hours of you caterwauling to a crying baby anymore."

Tess laughed outright. With Evie's departure, it still felt like someone had sucker-punched her in the sternum, but Reese's dry banter lessened the pressure, made some of the tears dry. And she desperately needed a shower.

"Okay. I'll meet you in the commissary at 0800." She eyed him. "Say you chew with your mouth closed."

"Don't push it, Langley. I promise not to spit food on you. Take it or leave it." He winked and walked away.

"Kiss my ass, Reese," she said mildly.

"Langley, that's probably the cleanest, best smelling part of you right now," he tossed over his shoulder. "See you at 0800. Don't be late."

* * *

Four days later

Tess stood in front of an empty amnio tank and listened as Max pulled out all the stops on his sales pitch.

"Come on, Tess, it's a second chance. You were seriously considering it before Quaritch went berserk and screwed us all. We desperately need another avatar. You know this."

She did know it, but fear made her hesitate. A decade earlier, she'd volunteered for the Avatar program, despite knowing the high risks to a driver. A scholar's curiosity and a need for money had overridden most of her concerns, and she'd signed up for the program.

The application process had been grueling, and she wasn't one of RDA's star candidates. Nonetheless, she'd qualified. Physicians, xenobiologists and a multitude of other doctors began the work of creating her Na'vi hybrid.

They failed, numerous times. But the money already invested dictated they try again. By then, Tess had given up on the program and volunteered to ship out to Pandora as part of a secondary team supporting Grace Augustine's school and RDA's efforts to develop peaceful cohabitation with the Na'vi. That had failed as well.

Truth be told, as a sociolinguist, she was probably one of the least useful members of the science team. At least now, when there was no school and almost no contact with the Na'vi. As an avatar driver, she could contribute to the community's survival in a more concrete way.

"We don't have five years to wait for this avatar to mature. RDA will be back by then."

Max, sensing her acquiescence, grinned triumphantly. "I don't need five years. The embryo RDA shipped to us is finally viable, with a little tweaking. We'd have to use a higher dosage of growth accelerant, but I'm sure I can get your avatar up to speed in two years. Two and a half tops."

"Risk percentage?"

His grin faded a little. "Moderate. We'll need to monitor the growth more closely and decrease dosage if we see even a blip, but I'm confident this'll work."

Tess pinched the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. She'd been up half the night with a small crew repairing air breaches from the damage Max had inflicted on the Ops Room with the slash cutter. She wished he'd hit her with this after a nap.

"I'm rusty on simulation."

"Easy fix. How many hours did you log in while they tested?"

She counted back. "About three hundred and seventy, give or take a few."

Max frowned. "That's not much, but you can catch up during the maturation process. By the time we decant the avatar, you'll be a pro." He peered at her, as if by staring hard enough he could reach into her mind and make her give him the answer he wanted.

Tess suppressed the smile threatening to curve her lips. "Can I have a think on it?"

"Sure. No problem. You can give me your answer tonight."

Obviously, Max wasn't a fan of rumination.

"Generous of you," she replied, hoping he picked up on the dry response.

His sincere "Happy to oblige," dashed that hope.

She was interrupted from questioning him further by one of the scientist calling to them from the bio lab's entrance. "Hey you two. Jake's here, and he's brought along a big Na'vi with a bad attitude." Avid curiosity played across his features. "He's asking for you, Langley."

Tess and Max exchanged surprised looks before grabbing Exopaks and jogging for the avatar compound. Jake and his companion met them near the neatly marked rows of Pandoran tubers grown for both study and food for the avatars.

Scientifically, she understood the differences between Na'vi and the hybrid avatars. With the added component of human DNA, the hybrid took on some of the characteristics—eyebrows and five digits on each hand and foot, smaller eyes, the plithum between the nose and lip instead of the faint bifurcation sported by the Na'vi-but it still startled her to see those differences so blatantly apparent when avatars stood next to their full Na'vi counterparts.

Next to Jake's hybrid form, she and Max were no bigger than children. She was, in fact, comparable in height to a Na'vi three-year old. But next to the Na'vi warrior accompanying him, Jake was shorter, stockier, his differences far more pronounced than they were when he stood next to Neytiri.

Broad-shouldered, with an elongated torso and long legs, the Na'vi easily stood close to ten feet. Unlike Jake, he didn't shave his hair to the scalp on the sides but wore it full and below his shoulders, with the front pieces tied back and away from his face. He was dressed in the typical loincloth and leather girdle with its center sheath for the necessary hunting knife. Behind one shoulder the rise of a double-cross banshee bow showed him to be well armed. A pattern of darker blue stripes decorated his skin, their uniformity marred by scars that lacerated his left shoulder and shredded a path across his chest. Large yellow eyes surveyed all before him with a cool disdain matched only by the equally scornful curl of his upper lip.

Tess suspected when it went up for vote as to whether those humans who had helped the Na'vi could stay on Pandora, this warrior's answer had been a resounding "No."

Bad attitude indeed.

Jake broke off his conversation with Norm when he saw her. "Tess, I've brought someone with me I want you to meet." He raised a hand and gestured to his silent companion. "This is Nawm'itan, Kinätanhì's dad." He switched to clumsy Na'vi that might have made Tess wince were she not in shock. "Nawm'itan, this is the _tawtuté _Neytiri spoke of. And my friend."

Tess almost groaned in despair. She turned a wide-eyed gaze on the Na'vi who returned it, hostility pouring off him in waves. She'd hoped never to meet Evie's father. Humans had been responsible for his mate's death and the endangerment to his daughter. Those guilty of these acts were either dead or expelled from Pandora. At least for now. Still, Tess guessed he might consider her guilty by association. Judging by his current demeanor, she'd guessed right.

Nawm'itan nodded briefly, the tiniest inclination of his head to acknowledge her. Tess was more forthcoming. "_Kaltxì_, Nawm'itan. _'Awve ultxari ohengeyä, Nawma Sa'nok lrrtok siveiyi_. "**

Evie had inherited the shape of her father's eyes as well as that of his mouth. Tess desperately wanted to interrogate him about Evie but held back, sensing that such a line of questioning might get her skewered.

The tension in the air was palpable, the compound silent except for the chitters and screeches of the jungle beyond the protective palisades.

The cords in his long neck stood out before he spoke in English much worse thank Jake's Na'vi. "I thank you, _Tesslangley_, for helping my child." He said it with the pained reluctance of someone who'd just eaten a bowl of ground glass. His yellow eyes burned like twin suns.

Tess blanched and wondered if this hard-won expression of gratitude was about to transform into an attack. Even Jake tensed. No one missed the shift in his stance that put him between her and Nawm'itan. The move served to dispel some of the Na'vi's animosity. Long muscles twitched beneath blue skin as he settled into a more relaxed stance.

Risking a soft sigh of relief and a hesitant smile, Tess showed mercy and slipped into Na'vi. "I am honored to care for a child of the Omaticaya. It was Eywa's blessing upon me that Kinätanhì and I found each other." This time, she risked the question she wanted answered when Jake first introduced them. "How is she? How is the _'eveng_?"

For a moment, so quick she might have missed it if she blinked, his expression softened. "She is well. The women take turns caring for her."

Tess swallowed the sudden ache in her throat. She missed Evie. "I am glad she is among those who love her."

Despite her fluency in Na'vi, it was the most stilted conversation she'd ever had with anyone. She floundered for something else to say as Nawm'itan towered over her, silent; watchful. A thousand questions about Evie lay on her tongue. Only the dislike simmering just below Nawm'itan's still features kept her mute. Jake came to her rescue.

"Look, Tess, he won't ask but I did. The baby got a little too used to your voice while she was here. What's left of the clan is being tortured by sleep deprivation because they can't get her to sleep without crying for several of hours straight. The women have tried singing to her, playing drums, flutes, pacing, whistling. Nothing works. Nawm'itan wanted to come here and express his gratitude." Jake paused, a sheepish half-smile on his face. "Believe it or not." He rubbed his eyes in a defeated gesture. "I'm here to beg. We need a break. The longhouse is wired and recorded to protect the avatars. One of the scientists is downloading recordings from the nights when you sang to Kinätanhì. I'll take it back with me and teach the women how to use it. Keep your fingers crossed that works."

Tess gaped at him. She was a capable singer at best, able to carry a decent tune but nothing more. Her repertoire of music consisted of songs she'd learned from childhood and some folk songs a professor of hers insisted all his students learn to improve their understanding of the nuances in linguistics. Who knew Evie would miss them?

She groaned at a sudden thought. "Ugh, you recorded me? Do I snore?" A few smothered laughs and fake coughs were her answer. "Great. Please take that out of the download. I doubt Evie wants to hear that."

Max spoke up. "I think that's when she slept best." He raised his hands in a wordless "What?" when she glared at him.

As if on cue, Jada Marin, Max's right-hand woman, returned with the download. She dropped the altered com link into Jake's hand. "Work it just like a com for the most part. Tess's voice won't boom across the jungle, but it'll work for what you need."

The com looked no bigger than a jelly bean in Jake's palm. He dropped it into small pouch tied to the side of his loin cloth. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Tess looked once more to Nawm'itan. He still watched her, a measuring gaze that gave nothing away but seemed to strip her of all her protective emotional armor and see the woman beneath. He raised one hand in farewell.

"_Tawtuté,Eywa ngahu_."

She raised her hand in return. "Eywa be with you as well, Noble Son." As much as she might wish it, it didn't seem appropriate to ask him to hug Evie for her.

Unlike Jake's departure with Neytiri and Evie, Tess didn't linger to see Jake and Nawm'itan disappear on their _ikrans_, though she knew the memory of the grim, stately Omaticaya warrior would stay with her for a long time.

She made to follow Max back to the lab and instead found Reese planted in front of her.

"Feel like lunch?"

Tess frowned. "What is it with you? I think you need to invest in a therapist's couch."

"Nah, I'd rather eat."

She shrugged and linked her arm through his. "Yeah, me too. This time you pay, and I'll tell you what Max is up to. Do you think I'd look good in blue?"

* * *

Many thanks for reading and reviewing.

References:

James Cameron's Avatar Wiki

Babybag (height, weight page)

Na'vi language – Wikipedia (note: while I distrust a lot of information on Wikipedia, the reference section is exceptional and extensive for this entry. Because of its length, I'm listing the Wikipedia entry as the main reference. Paul Frommer, creator of the Na'vi language, has been complimentary of the maintainer of this entry).

Avatar – the movie

Avatar – the game

James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist's Survival Guide

Pandorapedia

Fox Screenings James Cameron Avatar script

Translations:

_Kaltx__ì (_Hello_)_

_F__ì ketuwong ke nayume keu, Neytiri (_This alien will learn nothing, Neytiri_)_

_Tsahik (_shaman, matriarch_)_

_Skxawng (_moron_)_

'_evi _(affectionate form of the word 'child'_)_

_Kelutrel (_Hometree_)_

_Irayo (_thank you_)_

_iveh k'nivi s'dir (_a baby sling_)_

_ikran (_mountain banshee_)_

_tawtuté (_sky person – feminine form_)_

_Kaltxì_, Nawm'itan. _'Awve ultxari ohengeyä, Nawma Sa'nok lrrtok siveiyi_. (Hello, Noble Son. May the Great Mother smile upon our first meeting.)

'_eveng (_child_)_

_Tawtuté,Eywa ngahu (_Sky Woman, Eywa be with you_)_

Note: Every once in a while I write a scene based on the inspiration of lyrics or music or both. The scene where Tess grieves her separation from Evie was inspired by listening to the last part of Connie Dover's ethereally beautiful _**Cantus**_ sung in both Latin and Irish Gaelic.

"Is airiu agus ochón!

Sad I am till you return

To have you at the break of dawn

Ochón airiu

Without you

(And alas, sad I am till you return. To have you at the break of dawn. Alas, without you.)


End file.
